How Can You Safely and Effectively Handle Negative Behaviors in Your Senior with Alzheimer’s Disease?

How Can You Safely and Effectively Handle Negative Behaviors in Your Senior with Alzheimer’s Disease?

Elder Care in Germantown MD

When you found out that your aging parent has Alzheimer’s disease, you likely expected some of the symptoms. You probably knew that they were going to experience memory loss, cognitive functioning decline, loss of judgment, and eventual inability to care for their own physical needs. What you might not have expected was the negative behaviors that they might have started Elder-Care-in-Germantown-MDexhibiting as their disease progressed.

A high percentage of people who develop Alzheimer’s disease will experience negative behaviors at some point in their progression with the disease. These behaviors can include biting, yelling, hitting, throwing things, becoming combative, verbally lashing out, using profanity, and other behaviors. This can be extremely unnerving and upsetting for you as their caregiver and as their adult child, but it can also be physically dangerous if you do not handle it effectively.

Use these tips to help you safely and effectively handle negative behaviors in your senior as they progress through Alzheimer’s disease:

Do not try to match them. It might be your initial reaction to try to “match” your parent’s behaviors by being loud and aggressive with them. This, however, will only make the situation worse. Strive to stay calm and in control at all times. This will create a secure environment and encourage your parent to calm down and feel safe.

Rule out unmet needs, starting with pain. Your aging parent might not be able to properly interpret what they are experiencing or effectively express it to you. Even though they might feel pain, they might not know what it is, why they feel it, or what they should do about it. Quickly check your parent to rule out unmet needs, starting with pain, and resolve any that you discover.

Get safe. The safety of both you and your aging parent is paramount in this situation. Take steps to ensure that you are in a safe place and that the most pressing dangers are removed. Even if this means stepping out of the room and closing the door until they calm down enough for you to approach them safely, do it. Staying safe is essential to being able to continue caring for your loved one properly.

Distract them. Shift your parent’s focus to something else to disarm the situation. This can mean putting on music to calm them, encouraging them to start a craft, or getting up and taking a walk with them. Getting their mind off of the negative behaviors will help stop them from happening.

Starting elder care for your aging parent can make a tremendous difference in their journey with Alzheimer’s disease, and your experience as their family caregiver. The highly personalized services of an elderly home care services provider are designed to address your loved one’s specific challenges, limitations, and symptoms in a way that takes into consideration their personality, individuality, goals, and lifestyle, as well as the care efforts that you offer to your loved one. This means that your senior gets everything that they need to stay safe, healthy, comfortable, and happy while maintaining as much independence and activity as possible as they age in place and keeping you at the forefront of their care routine. When it comes to managing negative behaviors, this care provider can stay calm and in control, helping your parent to address what is leading to the behavior and creating a safer environment for everyone involved. Knowing that this care provider is with your parent can give you greater confidence that they are getting the care and support that they need and deserve, even when you feel that you are not prepared to handle it yourself.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional elder care in Germantown, MD, contact the friendly staff at Prestige Healthcare Resources. Ask about our free In-Home Care Assessment: 240-547-0234.

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Co-Founder and Director of Operations at Prestige Healthcare Resources, Inc.
PHRI co-founder, and Director of Operations, John S. Smith, Jr., received his calling to become a nurse in 2001 when he was involved in a job related accident which led to him having emergency surgery. He was fortunate to been taken care of by the wonderful medical and nursing staff that showed they truly cared about him and his full recovery. “After recovery, I was determined to give back and made a vowed to become a nurse and provide the same high quality healthcare I received when I was a patient,” Smith says. He became a registered nurse in 2006 and has worked at various hospitals and medical facilities.
Mr. Smith has extensive experience in caring for to cardiac, psychiatric, hospice, Stroke and surgical population. After working in many different areas of nursing, he realized his true passion was in community nursing, where he could have the greatest impact on his surroundings.